Means for lighting christmas trees.



E. J. BUlVIILLER.v

MEANS FOR LIGHTING CHRISTMAS TREES. APPLICATION FILED JAN.15,1910.

966,520. l Patented Aug. 9, 1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

E. J. BUMILLER.

MEANS FOR LIGHTING CHRISTMAS TREES.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.15,1910. i

Patented Aug. 9, 1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET z.

Specification of Letters Patent.

'l MEANS FOR :[IGrI-ITINGrv CHRISTMAS TREES.

Patented Aug. 9, 1910.

y Application filed January 15, 1910. Serial No. 538,272.

l To all whom 'it may concern.

Be it known that I, EUGENE J. BU'MILLER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illi` nois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Means for Lighting Christmas Trees, of which the following is a s ecification.

y invention relates to improvements -in means for lighting Christmas trees and has for its object the production of simple and efficient means for maintaining electric lights on Christmas trees mounted in rotatable stands.

The invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

The invention will be best understood by reference to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, and 1n which,

Figure 1 is a side elevation 'partially' in sectionl of a device embodyingmy invention, Fig. 2, a horizontal sectlon on line 'iv-:v of Fig. l, Fig. 3, a section on line y-y of Fig. 2, and Fig. 4, a sectional elevation of the brushes and their support employed for supplying electric current to the evice. The pr ferred form of construction as illustrated in the drawings com-prises an artificial Christ-mas tree having its trunk 1 mounted in a rotatable lstand 2 which prol the-Christmas tree.

jects upwardly from the center of a suitable casing 3. The casing 3 is in the form of a music box containing mechanism for supplying music and for imparting continuous rotation to the stand 2 and consequently to Secured to trunk 1 near its lowerendl are two metallic conducting rings 4 'and 5, the upper ring 4 being sepa-- means of a ring 6 of insulating material'. Annular rings 7 of insulating material are inserted between Said rings and at the top and bottom thereof, as shown. Electric wires 8 and 9 are secured to rings 4 and 5 res ectively by soldering theirl ends thereto an are designed to extend'up the trunk of the tree to supl carrie t ereby. In securing'wire't) to the lower ring it 1s assed through a recess 10 in the trunk of t e tree, as shown. Metallic leaf springs or'brushes- 11 'are` secured to insulatin head 12 by means of screws '13 in positlon to contact with the sides of rings 4 and 5 as they rotate. v.For their bet- The cover of the .housing is current to a system of lights.

ter protection an insulating plate 14 is secured over the ends of brushes 11, as indi'- cated in Fig. 2. Insulatin cured in the top of a metallic tube 15 which is rotatably mounted in a socket 16 provided with a set screw 1 7 by means of which the anvfularity of said tube may be adjusted 1n sai socket. is provided through socket 16 and the top of casing 3 for the passage ofelectric wires head 12 is se-l A continuous opening 18l 19 and 20 which have their upper ends se- 'cured to brushes 11, as shown in Fig. 4. Wlres 19 andv 20 are connected with a suitable circuit for'supplyingl current .to small electric lights, usually the ordinary current furnished in a city for lighting purposes. By this arrangement it will be seen that as housing 2l having a hinged topl perforated at the center forI the passage of the tree trunk is placedaround and over lsaid parts. rovided Wit-h an insulating plate 22 secure side thereof. The housing is mounted upon the casing 3 upon suitable lugs' or standards 23. At one side the housing is provided with an extension 24 adapted to receive the insulating head 12, the upper end of tube 15 and the outer ends of brushes 11.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred form 'of construction for carrying my invention into effect. this is capable of variation or modification without departto the inner ing from the spirit of the invention. I

therefore do not wish to be limited to the exact details of construction set forth but desire to avail myself of such variations and modications as 'fairly fall within the spirit and scope of the ap ended claim.

Having described) my inventionwhat I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

In a device of the class described, a casing formingv a base, a socket member rotatably mounted therein, a' Christmas tree secured in said socket member, a second casing arranged about the trunk of said tree, standards su porting said secondcasing at a distance a ove the base, said second. casing comprising a cylindrical member open at top tending from said rings toa series ofalights Vin the tree, a socket on [the base casing directly beneath said extension, a tube -ro tatably mounted in said `socket and extendving upwardly into said extension, means for securing said .tube Ain adjusted position Within said sooket5 an Vinsulating block on thei two subscribing Witnesses.

upper end of said tube, a pair of contacts 'secured to said block rand engaging said rings respectively and wires' extending through said tube =to said contacts for supplying currentwtheret@ substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of EUGENE J. BUMILL-ER. VV-itnesses:4

JANET E. HOGAN,

JOSHUA R. H.`Pofrrs. 

